The Pink Hard Hats: Team Catalyst Invites You To Join Their Team!

“While October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as far as Indianapolis is concerned, we go pink in April.” –John Lerchen, Team Catalyst Captain

Anyone who has been to the Race for the Cure in the past five years has likely seen a group of people wearing and waving light pink hard hats as they walk the Race course.

What’s new this year is that you could be one of them.

If you’re new, flying solo or only have a couple people with you at the Race for the Cure, you should consider joining Team Catalyst because Team Catalyst is certainly interested in having you.

To help meet their goal of 500 team members this year, they guarantee pink hard hats to at least the next 250 people who join their team!

To join Team Catalyst at this year’s Race, you can visit their team page.

To find out the inspiration behind this catchy construction idea, read on!

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On April 2nd 2007, John Lerchen joined Catalyst Construction as their director of Business Development.

At 7:30 that day, he set a 7:35 a.m. meeting with owner Todd Stacey about forming a Race for the Cure team in the 16 short days before the Race. He also spoke with him about approaching Activa to make light pink hard hats that their construction crews could wear on site during April to raise awareness of the Central Indiana Race and during October for breast cancer awareness month.

Having just found out one of his own friends had been diagnosed with breast cancer, Todd agreed and had John’s introduction as their new business developer double as the meeting where John presented the idea of a Race team and pink hard hats on the job site.

“They’re jeans and golf shirts guys, and I’m going to show up and say ‘Guess what, guys?’ I had to figure out how to sell it,” John said. “So I made my primary points about why they should get involved – how every man has at least one woman in his life who will be affected, how it’s one of the top three health issues for women, how it’s the right thing to do…I got crickets.”

But as someone whose mom lost her battle to breast cancer, John was too passionate about the mission to be discouraged.

Taking another approach, he said “I guarantee that you will have more female attention on the job site than you’ve ever had.”

True to his word, women and men alike were coming up to workers on the job site to ask about the meaning and inspiration behind the pink hard hats.

“For us, it is a great way – in an odd spot – to make a statement,” said Todd. “People just don’t expect to see people wearing pink hard hats in the middle of a construction site. We want for people to see the hats and think ‘Oh, it’s time for the Race and time to remind our wives or girlfriends or sisters to get their annual exams.’”

In their first year, Team Catalyst had 35 members – last year, they had more than 120. This year, they’re aiming for 500. So if you want one of their pink hard hats, joining Team Catalyst is the only way you’re going to be able to get it!

“We have clients who just rave about them,” said Todd.  “Some have tried to extort a pink hard hat in exchange for a project, but we just tell them they have to join our team.”

In addition to being a Race for the Cure team captain, John Lerchen also sits on the board of Indiana Women In Need (I.W.I.N.). Catalyst Construction also did the build-out for our office space, which you can see in the photos above.